


Babysitter's Club

by vanilla_kit_kat



Category: Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Babysitting, Kidnapping, One Shot, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanilla_kit_kat/pseuds/vanilla_kit_kat
Summary: Bowser is tired.A fight between his kids is the final straw, and he finally decides to take a vacation. The only problem is, he needs a babysitter.Unfortunately, it appears Luigi fits the bill.
Relationships: Luigi & Mario (Nintendo), Luigi & Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool, Mario/Peach Toadstool, Princess Daisy/Luigi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	Babysitter's Club

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I suck at writing endings, but hopefully you enjoy the rest :)

Bowser felt dangerously close to jumping out the window.  
He mentally kicked himself, wondering why his past self decided to adopt seven kids on top of his already rambunctious biological kid as he sat at his throne, watching the war that was happening in front of him.   
Wendy had decided it would be a good idea to bring her makeup down for playtime, and once Junior got a hold of it, it became a very heated game of monkey in the middle. Eventually Ludwig had enough of all the screaming and grabbed it from them, and proceeded to throw it on the ground. Wendy was not happy about that. She jumped Ludwig, and the rest of the koopalings took that as an invitation to fight each other as well.   
Bowser sighed again, watching the mess in front of him. It really was like a mini war. He needed a vacation. In fact, there was nothing stopping him from leaving for a week or two and giving himself some me time. Well, except one thing.   
He didn't have a babysitter.   
He could've forced his minions to, but he didn't want to put them through that.  
His second thought was Princess Peach. Sure, he cared about her a lot and didn't want her to deal with them either, but he didn't see any other option. He already knew she was good with kids, and the kids behaved a lot better when she was around. He kind of felt bad, but he didn't think he had any other choice.   
'To the airship I go', he thought. 

\---------------

As Bowser stood on deck, he started to feel slightly guilty. He liked Peach. A lot. He really didn't want to force her to deal with the kids. He sighed, placing his hand on his face.   
"Sire, what do you want us to do?" Kamek asked, suddenly behind him. Bowser turned around, an idea coming to him.   
"Kamek, you and a few koopas should go to the Mushroom Kingdom, and keep watch for anyone who looks like they could handle kids for a week. I don't care who it is, as long as it's not Mario, got it?"  
"Got it, your Majesty."  
"Good. Once you find someone, bring them in quietly. I don't want Mario coming to save them before my week is over." 

\--------

Luigi looked at all the mushroom children, reading happily in front of the star fountain. Today was one of his weekly tutor days for the kids who needed some extra help in school, and it was one of his favorite things to do. He loved kids because they didn't judge like adults, but they also had no filter and told you how it was straight. No lies or cutting corners.   
"Mr. Luigi?"   
"Yes, Mushella?"  
"I finished my book."  
"Wonderful! would you like another or would you like me to help you with anything else?"   
"I'm actually a little confused on this..."  
And so, Luigi spent the next hour or so helping out the kids as they all finished up their books. 

\---------

"Sir, do you see that?"  
"Yes, I do."  
"Are we gonna take him in? The boss said no Mario-"  
"He's not Mario."  
"Is that gonna be okay?"  
"It might be risky, but Bowser wants to leave soon. We don't have all day to find someone. Let's just wait for an opportunity."

\--------

The sun had started to set, and Luigi waved off the last bambino as she hurried off to hug her parents. Luigi smiled, knowing he was making these kids happy.   
He hugged himself and shivered, a sudden breeze blowing by that dropped the temperature a few degrees. He began walking along the path home, excited, knowing that Mario's cooking awaited him. He pictured it, his mouth watering at the mental image he created.   
A sudden noise from behind startled him, and he turned around, a little frightened. He didn't see anything, so he assumed it was his imagination. Still, he suddenly felt a little paranoid. He turned around again to continue the walk, but he didn't get very far. A sudden hand on his shoulder made him jump and he turned around only to be greeted with a fist. It hurt, but only did enough to make him stumble back into the arms of another assailant. Before he could question or talk or scream or anything, a scaly hand covered his mouth tightly. Still a little dazed from the punch, he didn't quite register what was going on. He regained his senses quickly enough, though, to realize what was happening when the original attacker grabbed his arms and pulled them together in front of him. Luigi had a sudden intense feeling of panic as he realized who it was, and he immediately started kicking at Kamek to pushed him away. It didn't do much as he wasn't exactly in the best position to do it. He tried to yell past the hand, but only muffled sounds came out and he knew it wasn't likely that someone would hear. He was all alone on a path no one really traveled getting attacked by Bowser's minions, who were quickly winning the fight. Kamek at that point had pulled out his wand and with a flick, ropes suddenly bound Luigi's hands together. Luigi screamed louder, realizing the idea of escape was slowly dwindling. He immediately thought of Mario, and felt a sudden surge of hope knowing that Mario was expecting him and would notice he's missing quickly.   
Luigi continued to struggle, but the koopa that had him had a really tight grip and he didn't really have any leverage to fight back with anyway. He watched as Kamek pulled out a white bandana, and Luigi's eyes widened in fear when he realized what it was for. He hated the idea of something covering his mouth for a long time, and the hand was bad enough already. Kamek threw the bandana to the koopa and the turtle wasted no time in gagging Luigi with it.   
Luigi could feel himself losing, and knew it was pointless to keep fighting but he didn't want to give up. He needed to feel like he at least gave it his all. And he did.  
Kamek maneuvered Luigi so his hands were behind his back, and at that point Luigi decided to stop struggling. It was pointless. He was officially in Bowser's hands now, and he could only pray that Mario would be able to save him.   
"Glad to see you've come to your senses, greenie. Bowser doesn't intend to keep you for very long, so you might as well make this easier for everyone involved and play nice the rest of way to the castle."  
Luigi looked up at him and glared, but didn't make any moves. He didn't like what Kamek's statement implied.   
"Sir, we're gonna have to pass by the Mario's house. Is that gonna be okay?"  
"It's dark, he won't notice us. And if greenie decides to pull any tricks we'll drop him off as a nice meal for the cheep cheeps, got it?" He directed the last statement at Luigi, who elected to keep glaring at him. It was the only thing he could do to feel better.   
"Alrighty boys, let's head back. We've got a very eager king waiting for us."

\-------

Mario looked at the clock, the time reading 7:17. He sighed, knowing he was overreacting as Luigi didn't usually get home until 7:30, but he had a really weird panic feeling in his chest. He usually got that right before something bad happened. He looked at the boiling pasta on the stove, and smiled knowing that he added some TLC just for luigi into dinner. Almost immediately though the bad feeling came back and he looked away.   
'You know what', he thought, 'I'm gonna trust my gut this time'. This feeling had never been wrong before. Why would it now? He knew Luigi was in danger. He went upstairs, and got dressed(he had spent the whole day inside in his pajamas). Even if nothing had happened, it was better to be safe than sorry.

\--------

The gang was already long past the house. To make it easier for them, Kamek had Luigi sit on his broom with him, keeping his arm looped around Luigi's to prevent any smart ideas.   
Luigi didn't have any.   
The walk had been completely silent so far, with only the nightly ambience to keep Luigi sane. He was terrified, having no clue what Bowser could want him for. Was it ransom? A trade, him for the Princess? Was it a trap for Mario? He really hoped it was none of those things, but he didn't have any other ideas. The castle suddenly came into view, along with the sunrise. Luigi shuddered at the sight, and Kamek chuckled to himself.   
"Scared, greenie?"   
Luigi didn't react.  
They made it to the front gate, and the lead koopa banged on the door. It opened with a very loud creak, and they all went inside. 

\--------

Mario had been out all night in search of his brother. He was happy he had decided to bring dinner with him, as he was starving right now. He sat down on a log by the woods just outside of Peach's castle, and pulled it out. He ate it absentmindedly as he thought about Luigi.   
Luigi was definitely missing. He had even gone back to the house later and Luigi still wasn't there, and he knew he didn't just miss him because he left a note telling him to stay put if he got home because Mario would be back soon.   
He eventually finished eating, just as the sun began to rise.   
'That's not good, I didn't get any sleep'.  
Mario decided there was no point worrying about it now. He was too worried about his brother to feel tired anyway. He decided to go talk to the Princess. Maybe he had ended up staying the night and forgot to notify Mario. 

\--------

"Mario? You're here rather early," One of the guard toads said to him, but Mario just shrugged.  
"Did Luigi come to the castle yesterday?" he asked, and the guard shook his head.   
"No, but he was at the fountain with the kids. I watched him start walking home last night."  
A sudden brick hit Mario's chest and he felt like he was gonna pass out. Luigi was definitely in trouble.   
"I need to talk to the Princess, it's urgent."  
The toad sensed Mario's anxiety and didn't make any protests.   
"Go ahead, but she may not be awake yet."  
Mario walked through the doors and to the Princess's bedroom, the path now second nature to him. He paused in front of the door and took a deep breath, before knocking firmly.   
He heard shuffling on the other side, and very shortly after the door opened.   
"Princess, you're up early."  
"So are you, Mario, are you okay?"   
"I don't...I'm fine, it's Luigi."  
Peach's face immediately dropped. Mario was a little taken aback.   
"Peach, are you okay?"   
She nodded and walked out the door, closing it behind her.  
"I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep well last night because I had this really awful feeling that something was gonna go terribly wrong."  
"I had the same feeling, so I went out to find Luigi and I never did. I think he's in trouble."  
Peach gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.   
"I need to show you something."

\--------

Luigi hung his head, afraid to look at any of the minions they passed on their way to the throne room. He was terrified right now, but he held on to a little part of his brain that was telling him he wasn't going to die. Bowser would never be as stupid as to kill Mario's brother on purpose.   
He still didn't like any of the alternate scenarios.   
A sudden stop jolted him out of his thoughts and he looked up at the throne room doors as they opened for them. Bowser sat at the other end of the room, and Luigi gulped.   
'I guess I'm about to find out why I'm here'.  
Bowser sat up straighter and his disinterested face turned into a scowl.   
Luigi shrunk back under the stare as Kamek flew them closer to Bowser. Kamek hopped off the broom and pulled Luigi off, forcing him to his knees. He held Luigi's arm so he wouldn't try and run.   
"Kamek, what did I say about Mario?"   
"This isn't Mario, your evilness, this is his brother. You just said we couldn't bring in Mario."  
Koopa rubbed his temples, but didn't press the matter further.   
"Does Mario know? Did anyone see you?"   
"No sir, not a soul was in sight."  
"Good."   
Luigi looked up at the King, who looked even more intimidating from below.   
"Kamek, let his arm go. I want to have a private chat with him."  
Luigi stiffened, not enjoying the sound of a private chat at all. Kamek let go and Luigi leaned forward, glad to have the pressure gone, but terrified for his life.   
All the minions in the room left, shutting the door behind them. Only Luigi and Bowser remained. 

\--------

Peach lead Mario down into the dining room where a small mushroom child was eating pastries with a couple of the guards. She looked like she had been crying, but the sweets seemed to be calming her down.   
"Is she okay?" He asked, looking at Peach. Peach shook her head.   
"She came in late last night crying, screaming about Bowser, but we couldn't get anything else out of her. We persisted until we were sure there was no threat of an attack, but after we got that we stopped. She fell asleep and woke up not that long ago."  
"Do you think she might've seen what happened to Luigi?..."  
Peach looked at Mario, her silence saying it all.  
The little girl finally looked up at them, and smiled when she saw Mario. They walked over to her, sitting down next to her.  
"Do you feel better honey?" Peach asked, with a voice as soothing as a mother's. The girl nodded, her mouth full of pastry.   
"What's your name?" Peach continued.   
"Mushella."  
"That's a really pretty name," Peach cooed, and the girl smiled.   
"Do you feel okay enough to tell us what happened last night?"  
Mushella's smile fell, but she nodded.   
"Just start from the beginning sweetie, whenever you're ready."  
Mushella took a deep breath and began.   
"Mr. Luigi tutored me and my friends yesterday. He was helpin me with a part in the book I didn't understand, and he accidently left his pen withed me. It looked really special so I wanted to give it back to him. I wented out to find him and saw him walking out of town so I followed him, but I couldn't really keeped up with him. He turned around really fast all of a sudden and it scared me so I hidded in the bushes. I thought he was gonna be mad at me. He turned around but this floaty guy came out behind him all of a sudden-" she paused, catching her breath, starting to cry again, "-and he, he, um..he punched him in the face," Mushella start to sob, and Peach quickly scooped her up into her arms and cradled her, rocking her back and forth and rubbing her back to calm her down. It seemed to work, and after a little bit Mushella calmed down.   
Mario, on the other hand, was still very much freaking out. He did not like where the story was going. Once Mushella calmed down, Mario asked her a question, his voice breaking.   
"Who punched who, Mushella?"  
"The weird floaty guy punched Mr. Luigi."   
Mario inhaled sharply, holding back tears of anger. Whoever punched his brother was gonna be dealing with Mario's fist of fire very soon.   
"Do you wanna continue honey?" Peach asked, and Mushella nodded.   
"After that, one of the turtle koopas came out and grabbed Mr. Luigi. That's how I knew Bowser was trying to hurt Mr. Luigi," she said, and Mario's rage intensified tenfold. Of course it was Bowser.   
"It was dark and I was really scared so I couldn't see what was happening but I hearded Mr. Luigi yelling a lot. I couldn't hear what he saided, though. Then it got really quiet and Mr. Luigi stopped moving a lot."  
If it wasn't for the fact that the little girl was there, Mario probably would have flipped the table by now.   
"The mean floaty guy said stuff to him but I couldn't really hear him. I was really really scared, but I didn't want him to see me running away. All I heard was something about them wanting to feeded him to the cheap cheeps or something-"   
She bit back a sob, and Peach hugged her tight to her chest.   
"It's okay now baby, they won't hurt you and Mr. Luigi's gonna be fine, you did amazing."  
Mario sat there, tears streaming down his cheeks. All of what she said happened before 7:30 last night and now it was almost a full 12 hours later. If they were really gonna "feed him to the cheep cheeps", it probably already happened. It was too late-  
'No, don't think like that. Luigi is gonna be fine, she probably just heard something wrong. Luigi is gonna be fine'.   
Mario really wished he believed that. 

\--------

Luigi would be lying if he said he didn't feel like he was about to die. Bowser didn't say anything for a while after everyone left, so Luigi had been sitting in the deathly silence for a little while now.   
"I promise I'm not gonna hurt you."   
The sudden talking startled Luigi, and he looked up at Bowser. Luigi had to say, he was not expecting that to come out of Bowser's mouth.   
"I know this probably isn't very fun for you, but I needed someone. I'm at my wits end here."  
Luigi cocked his eyebrow in confusion, amd Bowser hung his head.   
"Look, I know that I had my minions kidnap you and all that, but I didn't expect them to bring me you. Not saying I'm mad or anything, you're just really risky."  
Luigi felt like that just confused him even more. Bowser noticed.   
"Look, I wanna take a vacation. With the constant issues with the Mushroom Kingdom and the Princess, down to problems within my own castle, I was struggling a little. Except, I couldn't really leave because I have 8 kids. So, I needed a babysitter."  
Realization finally dawned on Luigi.   
"I thought about the Princess but I knew Mario would save her before I could come back. Asking nicely wasn't really an option either. So, I told my minions to go on lookout duty and find someone who seemed like they could take of kids, and then bring them back here. And then they brought you back. I didn't realize it until now but I probably should've told them not to take you as well as Mario, since I'd be in the same boat with him if I took the Princess. But I can't really change it now, so I guess you're stuck with babysitting duty."  
Bowser stopped and looked at Luigi, who seemed to be panicking slightly. Not enough to be worrying, but enough that Bowser knew he'd have to take some extra measures to make sure Luigi couldn't escape and Mario couldn't save him.   
A million thoughts were racing through Luigi's head.   
'I have to babysit the koopalings? For a week? I'm gonna die, they're gonna skin me alive, or throw me in lava, or-'  
"Luigi."  
His name being called snapped him out of it, and he looked up at Bowser. Bowser almost looked sympathetic.  
Luigi grunted while he shifted into a more comfortable position, and Bowser realized Luigi was still tied up and gagged, and also probably very scared. He stood up slowly as to not scare Luigi even more and picked him up onto his feet. Luigi looked up at him frightfully, but didn't move.   
"I'm just gonna get you more comfortable, that's all," He said, and Luigi seemed to relax slightly. Bowser turned him around and untied his hands(which Luigi immediately pulled to the front and began rubbing his sore wrists) and then untied the gag and pulled it away from his face. Luigi turned around to face him, grateful to finally be out of the restraints.   
"Luigi, this is hard for me to say, but.....I'm....sorry."   
Luigi's jaw almost dropped. Bowser apologized for kidnapping him? This was a really strange situation.   
"Your kids are gonna kill me."  
Bowser chuckled a little.   
"I told them that if they hurt you or kill you, I'll gladly let Mario kill them all too."  
Jeez, harsh, Luigi thought, but he was grateful. He didn't want to say it, but he knew he had too.  
"....Thank you."  
It caught Bowser by surprise, and he looked at Luigi bewildered. He didn't say anything though.   
"Well, here are the rules for you. No escaping, all the doors will be locked so it would be pointless to try. No going outside, if the kids want to then ask someone else to bring them out. Finally, please just...keep my kids in one piece? I love them still, even though they annoy me enough to take a vacation."  
Luigi almost felt a little hope. Even what he assumed was the worst monster could have a little heart. Bowser really just wanted his kids to be safe.   
Luigi accidently let a smile slip through, which luckily Bowser didn't notice.   
"Well, I guess I better get going. I'll see you in a week, Luigi, hope you don't die or anything," Bowser said, before scurrying out of the room. Luigi stood there, letting himself process everything that just happened. He was officially on evil babysitting duty. 

\--------

Mushella had been escorted back home to two very frightened parents. Mario and Peach sat silently in the garden, both too afraid to speak.   
Finally, Peach couldn't stand the silence anymore.   
"Mario, we have to do something," she said, and Mario nodded.   
"I know, this should be easy, right? I mean, it's Bowser we're dealing with, he has a very predictable pattern."  
Neither of them dared to say it out loud, but both thought it. The whole method seemed weird for Bowser. Sneak attack, sending people to do his dirty work, the fact they threatened to actually kill Luigi...  
Mario shook his head to get the thoughts to go away. Bowser would never kill anyone, and wasn't that stupid enough to try and kill Luigi.   
"What should we do?"  
Mario didn't know. He would say they just go storm the castle, but there was a reason Bowser didn't want anyone to know about it. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to go right away.   
Peach had the same idea in her head. Something was really fishy. They needed to find out more information...  
"Oh! Mario, we should send a bird!"   
"What?"   
"One of my birds, remember? It can fly to the castle and try and find Luigi or just find out more info for us, and we can figure out what to do from there."  
Mario suddenly lit up, and playfully punched Peach lightly on the arm.   
"See, this is why I stick with you, Princess. You're a genius!"

\---------

Luigi didn't really know what to do with himself. No one told him where the kids were, and he knew he would get lost if he tried to look. He decided to just stay in the throne room, and eventually someone would come find him and tell him where to go. He walked up to the window, and looked out at the landscape below him. He would admit, the castle was very aesthetically pleasing. He saw a little red bird flying towards the castle, and marveled at how life was able to thrive here even with all the lava and rocks. The bird flew up to the window and landed on the sill, tilting his head and looking at Luigi. Luigi did the same back.   
Luigi noticed the bird had a little backpack on his back, and suddenly realized it was one of Peach's messenger birds. Hope coursed through him when he realised that meant they knew where he was. He opened the backpack and pulled out a neatly folded letter. He almost cried while he read it.

Luigi, 

We know what happened to you and I promise we'll do everything we can to rescue you. We just need you to tell us a couple things: Are you at Bowser's castle? Do you know why he kidnapped you? Is it safe to come get you?  
No matter what, Luigi, we will get you home safely, promise.

\- Mario and Princess Peach

P.S. Ti amo, fratellino, siamo veniamo! 

Luigi felt a tear slip down his cheek as he pulled out the empty sheet of paper and little pencil. He wrote out his letter and stuck it back in, petting the little birdie and sending it back off. He felt a lot better than he did ten minutes ago. 

\--------

Mario had been pacing back and forth long enough where Peach was about ready to throw him out the window.   
"Mario, the bird will be back soon. Please, sit and calm down."  
He ignored her, and she sighed. shaking her head. A sudden tap on the window got both of their attentions, and Mario practically ran to the window when he saw the little bird there. He opened it up and pulled the bird inside, setting him on the table and pulling the letter out. He couldn't seem to open it fast enough.

Mario and Princess,

I'm okay! Under the circumstances at least. Bowser didn't hurt me. In fact, it's a really weird story but he actually only kidnapped me so I could babysit his kids while he was on vacation! There's a little bit more to it then that but I'll explain later. I am at Bowser's castle, I'm not sure what room I'll be in but I'm sure I'll hear that you guys are here so I'll try and get to the throne room. It should be safe to come now, but they did up the security so please be careful! I love you guys so much, I hope I'll see you soon!

-Luigi 

P.S. ti amo grande fratello, sono paura ma so che verrai!

Mario read the letter three times over, and handed it to Peach to read before she could realize he was crying. He missed Luigi.   
"Are you ready to go, Mario?" Peach asked, putting down the letter.   
"Are you sure you wanna go, Princess?"  
"Of course, what kind of question is that?"   
"Alright, we should hurry then."

\--------

Luigi looked around at his handy work. All eight kids were coloring peacefully on the floor, not a single peep out of any of them. Somehow he knew coloring would be something the koopalings would enjoy. In the short single day that he had spent with the kids, he realized they weren't really that awful. He grew a little fond of them, not that he would admit that. It was close to the end of the day and the kids were worn out, so he gave them a nice little activity to do in silence.   
Sudden yelling from the hallway startled all of them, and Luigi managed to hear bits of it. Mario and the Princess were here. Luigi almost fell from relief.   
"Okay guys, you should probably head upstairs. I don't want any of you getting hurt."  
"What's happening?"  
"Yeah, what's going on?"  
"I'll try and explain later guys, this is urgent. It's my job to protect you guys right now so please head upstairs, you'll be safe there."  
None of the koopalings said anything, but they all piled up the stairs and eventually were out of sight. Luigi sighed, feeling bad that he lied but he knew this was better for him. The main doors suddenly flung open and a group of koopa troopas and goombas came in.   
"Guys, what's going on?" Luigi asked, acting a little oblivious.   
"We can't let you leave unfortunately, boss's orders, so I'm afraid we're gonna have to stop your friends out there from getting you."  
Now Luigi actually was confused.  
"What do you mea-"  
A koopa suddenly jumped on him, knocking him down. He cried out in pain as his back hit the solid floor and it gave the koopas just enough time to flip him over onto his stomach. Luigi tried to get away, but there was a lot of koopas holding him down all of a sudden and he could barely move. He struggled hard as one of the koopas sitting on his back grabs his arms and pulled them together, but it didn't do much. The koopa pulled a rope out of his shell and started tying Luigi's wrists together. Luigi screamed for Mario, begging for help hoping his brother would hear. He didn't know what would happen if the koopas got away with him.   
A weird powder started falling in front of him as the koopa finished tying him up, and Luigi stopped screaming to look up at the source. Kamek had just teleported there, and seemed angry.   
"Mario heard him screaming so they're coming up here. All of you, leave. I'm gonna handle this myself."

\--------

Getting into the castle was a piece of cake. Mario had recently found a hidden pipe that lead to the basement during his latest Peach rescue mission. They went through and began climbing floors, avoiding detection. Eventually though, the number of koopas grew too big and they were spotted.  
Chaos ensued.   
They were close to the throne room, and Mario was praying that Luigi had made it there. This floor didn't have any koopas, surprisingly, so they stopped for a quick second to catch their breath. It was relatively quiet on this floor, so Mario took this opportunity to talk.   
"Prnicess, you doing okay?"  
"I'm okay, just a little winded. I don't usually run this much."  
Mario smiled at her, but the happy moment was very short lived when the heard screaming coming from above them. Mario's eyes widened with panic and fear when he realized it was Luigi screaming for him.   
"Come on, Princess, we need to get upstairs, now!"

\--------

As they ran up the staircase, the screaming suddenly stopped. Mario felt his heart drop and he looked at Peach, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.   
They proceeded up, albeit a little slower, now nervous for what might lay ahead. When they got to the main doors, they paused for a second. Both were terrified of what they would see.   
Mario took a deep breath, and Peach grabbed his hand. They smiled at each other, both knowing that no matter what they had each other's backs.   
They both pushed open the doors together, and the doors slowly creaked open.   
The castle had gotten eerily quiet.   
It was dark, seemingly empty. They slowly walked inside, prepared for a trap. Mario glanced around and noticed all the kids' drawings littered in the corner of the room.   
Of course Luigi would be the one to get those kids to calm down.  
Peach looked over at Mario, confused.   
"I don't know if anyone is in here," she whispered, but a sudden deep laugh from the shadows proved otherwise. Mario subconsciously pushed Peach behind him and went into a protective stance.   
"Where are you? Where's Luigi?!" He shouted, which only elicited more laughter from the shadows.  
"Give him back!"   
Mario saw movement in the dark, and he kept his eye on it as the figure slowly began to approach. It looked like he was flying.   
That must have been the floaty figure the girl was talking about.  
The figure suddenly emerged from the darkness, and Peach gasped as Mario clenched his fists in anger.   
"Kamek."  
"That is me, yes. But you're not here for me, are you? You're here for your precious little brother."  
As he said this, he motioned to Luigi, who was sitting on the broom with Kamek. His one hand was covering Luigi's mouth, and his other hand went up to lightly caress Luigi's chin. Luigi tried pulling away, but he couldn't get very far.   
"Let. Him. Go."  
Mario was practically fuming, but the deep feeling in his stomach of how scared he was for his brother was keeping his anger in check.   
"Ehh, I don't think I will. Bowser fully expects him to be here when he gets back, and even if that means keeping him locked up in the basement until he returns, Luigi isn't going anywhere."  
"You sick son of a-"  
"Language, Mario. You're in the presence of royalty."  
"I'm going to kill you."  
"Good luck with that, you'll probably kill your brother in the process."   
Mario almost drew blood from how hard he was clenching his fists.   
"It's useless, Mario. Even if you get past me, there's still hundreds of guards waiting for you below. Good luck getting down this first flight of stairs, let alone the whole castle."   
Luigi whimpered a little, the hand getting too tight for his liking. The sound awoke something inside of Mario, and his eyes suddenly turned white. A small flame formed around his body, and Peach jumped back as to not get burnt.   
"Give me back my brother now, or you're gonna become a pile of ash."  
"Please, as long as I have Luigi right next to me, you won't do anything."  
"I won't, but she might." Before Kamek could react his broom was knocked over and him and Luigi went tumbling off. Luigi sat up as soon as he hit the ground and turned to face the mystery woman.   
"If anyone ever touches my boyfriend again, their ass is mine."   
Luigi smiled with relief as Daisy ran over to him, hugging him tightly and gripping his shirt. Kamek was still too dazed to do anything, so Mario and Peach quickly pulled the couple up and they made a run for it.   
It wasn't as hard as Kamek said it would be to get down, and they finally made it through the secret pipe into the woods. They all collapsed from exhaustion, Luigi basically falling face first as his hands were still tied. They all looked at each other and started giggling, before it turned into laughter and eventually crying. Mario crawled over and embraced Luigi, even harder than Daisy had. Luigi didn't care, he was too freaking happy.   
Mario let go for a second and went around to untie Luigi, and once he did Luigi immediately engulfed him in a hug. Both bros sobbed into each other's shirts, and the princesses both cried as they watched the scene unfold in front of them.   
Mario was the first to pull away, his face red and covered in tears.   
"Luigi, I was so damn worried about you, I thought they were gonna kill you-"  
"Hey, it's okay, I'm here and I'm alive, you saved me."  
Mario bit back another sob and practically jumped on Luigi for another hug.   
Daisy and Peach joined in and they sat there, crying and relieved that they saved their family.  
"Perhaps we should leave before someone finds us out here," Peach finally suggested, and they all nodded and stood up. They began the long journey home, but no one was complaining.

**Author's Note:**

> side note: any dialogue marked with ' instead of " is that character's inner thoughts


End file.
